I'll just go with Mi Box, even if I could just play 480p DRM streams to it and be stucked on Nougat Beta, I'm fine with it, just to get a hang of Android TV for now, I'll just save up for Shield later.
Only thing that I have problem rn is I need it to have a Free TV, and to have either NTSC or ISDBT USB Dongle tuner? Problem is after extensive research it seems that it doesn't even exist yet, mostly are just ATSC for now like this tuners for Xbox One ? Can you help me find a USB tuner for my country's TV standard, in the Philippines? Anything that you know? Will USB TV Tuners for computers even work for Android TV like this or this ? Bc I thought those needed drivers and needed to install built in software or such, and may not work with Android TV and it's Live Channels app?
You also have a bigger problem wherein ABS-CBN's signal is encrypted hence you have to get their stupid box (I'm from the Philippines). That doesn't leave you much in terms of content.
New TVs are dirt cheap in our country anyway. Just get a new one that has a ISDB tuner built-in.